1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to vehicle body constructions and more particularly to a fuel tank vent pipe arrangement in a vehicle body construction.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A fuel tank vent pipe spans between a top wall of a fuel tank and an inlet end of a filler neck to allow air to move out of the fuel tank upon fuel filling.
As shown in FIG. 3, in many small-sized cars a fuel tank 22 is disposed in the space below a rear floor panel 21 and right under a rear seat (not shown) for the safety reason against fire and with a view to attaining a spacious luggage compartment.
The above described space below the rear floor panel 21 is protected by a rigid rear side member 23 so that the fuel tank 22 is less likely to be damaged upon lateral-end collision of the vehicle, making it possible to attain the safety of the fuel tank relatively easily. However, in view of the piping of the vent pipe 24 the aforementioned space is undesirable for the following reason. A filler neck 25 is bent rearwardly so as to pass under the rear side member 23 at its bent-up portion. The filler neck 25 further extends through the inside of a wheel house 26 to be attached at its inlet end 25a to a wheel house outer or the like. The vent pipe 24 has an end 24a attached to the top wall of the fuel tank 22 to project into the inside of same and the other end 24b attached to the inlet end 25a of the filler neck 25 to communicate the inside of same. The intermediate portion 24c of the vent pipe 24 cannot be bent into a U-shape similarly to the filler neck 25 so as to pass under the rear side member 23 at its bent-up portion since fuel or the like is likely to stagnate in the U-shaped intermediate portion of the vent pipe 24 to deteriorate its air venting action. For this reason, the vent pipe 24 cannot be arranged so as to pass under the rear side member 23 at its bent-up portion but is in effect arranged so as to pass the inside of the rear side member 23 through notch-like openings 27, 27 formed by stamping or the like in the flanges 23a, 23a of the rear side member 3.
A disadvantage of the prior art vent pipe arrangement is that it is complicated in stucture since due to the provision of the openings 27, 27 in the rear side member 23 additional reinforcement members are necessitated in order to retain a predetermined rigidity of the vehicle body. Another disadvantage is that sufficient care should be given to the sealing of the openings 27, 27 since incomplete sealing of the openings 27, 27 will cause rusting of the inner wall of the rear side member 23, leading to a lowered productivity. A further disadvantage is that it is impossible to increase the clearance between the fuel tank 22 and the ground without raising the entire of the floor panel 21, resulting in increased design restrictions on vehicle body and a difficulty in attaining spacious passenger and luggage compartments.